Winery Lease Floor Inspection: What to Check Before You Sign

By Pablo Figueroa · October 27, 2026 · 4 min read

The roof gets a report. The HVAC gets a report. The slab, which will carry tanks, racks and forklifts and take wash water through every harvest, often gets a walk-through glance and an as-is clause. This guide covers what a floor inspection should look at before you sign a winery lease.

Why inspect the floor before signing?

An as-is clause can shift responsibility for existing floor conditions to the tenant, including conditions nobody has measured. The actual allocation depends on the lease and applicable law; have your legal adviser review repair, disclosure and restoration obligations. A problem found before signing can become a repair by the landlord, a concession or a tenant improvement allowance. The same problem found after signing may become your operating cost or a dispute over restoration. An as-is clause is not unfair on its own. It is unfair when one side knows the condition and the other is guessing.

What should the inspection cover?

Five things, matched to a winery's use:

Moisture. The slab needs testing before any coating is planned. The common relative humidity method is ASTM F2170, taken in the room at service conditions. Include each room in a test plan that accounts for different slab construction and moisture exposure. Results describe the locations and time tested, not a guarantee of future conditions. Our cellar slab moisture testing guide explains the procedure and manufacturer-specific limits.

Slope and drains. Does the floor drain, and to where? A thin coating alone does not correct drainage slope; a flat slab may need a separately specified sloping mortar or overlay. In California, the State Water Board’s Winery Order covers qualifying winery process-water discharges to land, with regional water boards administering local requirements. Other disposal methods may require different approvals. Ask the landlord for drain plans, and confirm the discharge destination and applicable requirements with the regional board and, for sewer connections, the receiving sewer authority. A floor drain is not permission to discharge process water to a storm drain.

Loads. Tank feet, rack posts and forklift wheels concentrate load. Give the inspector your equipment list, and compare it with what the slab was designed for. A visual floor survey does not certify structural capacity; have a qualified structural engineer verify concentrated loads where needed.

Joints and surface. Open joints, cracks, existing coatings and any signs of past repairs show how the floor has been used and what it will accept.

A baseline. Dated photographs of the floor as it stands today help document the starting condition. Attach an agreed condition record to the lease where appropriate; the lease wording and legal advice determine what “return in good condition” requires.

When should it happen?

After site selection narrows and before the lease is signed, ideally before the letter of intent fixes the economics. That is when concessions cost the least to ask for.

What do you get?

A written summary: what the slab is, what your operation will ask of it, what it needs and what that is worth in the negotiation. The report is yours whichever way the deal goes.

How does DTI do it?

DTI offers pre-lease floor surveys free. For a winery, we walk the space with you and cover the five areas above. If remediation becomes part of the deal, DTI does repair and overlay work nationwide.

For the cellar slab in depth, see the Part 3 edition of The Floor Front, our LinkedIn newsletter, on testing the slab in the room it will live in. Visit DTI on LinkedIn for our updates and newsletter posts.

For the wider scope, explore DTI’s winery flooring services and our zone-by-zone floor assessment guide.

Looking at a building for a winery? Request a free pre-lease floor survey or call (209) 879-9674, before the signature makes the floor yours.

Image: AI-generated illustration of a pre-lease floor inspection setting, not a documented DTI project.